Hockey East Journal: Eagles hit turbulence

Boston College played its first 14 games with almost its entire
core of starters intact. A spate of did-not-plays for Destry
Straight was the only hiccup through the months of October and
November and into December. The Eagles were 11-2-1 through that
opening chapter of the 2012-13 season, looking almost unstoppable
in their quest to defend the Hockey East and national titles.

But nothing lasts forever, and ironically enough the biggest
moment of the season so far – Jerry York’s 925th career
victory, over Alabama-Huntsville on Dec. 29 – also
represented the start of BC’s first real dose of adversity
this year.

That 5-2 win was BC’s first game without Johnny Gaudreau,
who in his sophomore year looks even better than he did as a
freshman, having gone without a point in just one of those first 14
games. But Gaudreau was off to Ufa, Russia, to play for Team USA in
the World Junior Championship.

While Gaudreau was off leading the Americans in scoring with
seven goals and two assists, his Eagles started to flounder a bit.
They lost defenseman Isaac MacLeod for two games, including the
eye-opening 8-1 loss to Minnesota on Dec. 30, and a knee injury has
blown a hole in the season of reliable defenseman Patch Alber, who
isn’t expected back until the first round of the NCAA
tournament at the earliest.

Without Gaudreau and Alber, the Eagles lacked a certain
crispness, and Saturday’s 3-3 tie with Yale – a team
with a 7-4-3 record but one that sits in the middle of the
pack in the ECAC – was just the latest example.

Although Gaudreau, who also leads the Eagles with 11 goals and
23 points, would be a big hole in any offense, the Eagles tend to
be able to fill holes up front, and did so against Yale. But the
larger concern is on the back line, where BC was already quite
young with freshmen Teddy Doherty (Hopkinton, Mass.), Colin
Sullivan (Milford, Conn.) and Michael Matheson seeing regular
minutes. With Alber out, Travis Jeke is the fourth rookie seeing a
lot of time, after not playing at all in the first 14 games.

In other words, Jeke and his classmates are being asked to grow
up fast.

“We’re progressing,” said coach Jerry York
(Watertown, Mass.). “We’ve played some pretty good
clubs in Minnesota and Yale, and with New Hampshire on the horizon,
we’ve got to get better.

“We’ve got to get improvement from all our players.
That’s a tough position, boy, freshman defenseman in this
league.”

The injury bug didn’t even spare the coach last week. York
underwent successful outpatient surgery to repair a detached retina
Thursday morning, and won’t be behind the bench for the
Eagles’ games against UNH this weekend.

The Eagles tend to be pretty resilient when key pieces go
missing, but they’d sure like to have it all back together
again sometime soon.

Player of the Week

Riley Wetmore, senior, UMass-Lowell

In an otherwise mediocre week for Hockey East teams, the River
Hawks swept their two games against Clarkson, and Wetmore’s
two goals in the second game were a big part. The stalwart from
Swanton, Vt., also had four shots on goal and an even plus-minus
rating in the first win.

Game of the Week

New Hampshire vs. Boston College, Friday and Saturday, 7
p.m.

This home-and-home, which starts in Durham, N.H., pits the
league’s top two teams against each other, with the first
place Eagles trying to get some breathing room on the Wildcats, who
sit just two points back.

Power Rankings

Boston College (12-3-2, 9-2-1 HEA) – The
Eagles are done with their non-conference schedule, save for the
Beanpot, and with Johnny Gaudreau back in the
lineup ought to be able to shake off the holiday doldrums
they’ve been experiencing, which have resulted in a 1-1-2
record over their last four.

New Hampshire (13-3-2, 8-2-1 HEA) – In
just one game last weekend, the Wildcats showed little rust,
jumping all over RPI Saturday with five goals from five different
players.

Boston University (11-7-0, 8-4-0 HEA) –
The Terriers erased two one-goal deficits to beat RPI in overtime
Jan. 4, but the next night bottomed out in the third period, giving
up three goals in less than 10 minutes to lose a 5-2 lead against
Harvard, and then surrendered the game-winner to the Crimson in
overtime.

UMass-Lowell (9-7-1, 3-6-1 HEA) – UML has
all but erased its 4-7-1 start with five straight victories,
including the two against Clarkson that saw the River Hawks
outscore the Golden Knights 8-3, but now it’s time to pick up
some ground in Hockey East.

Providence (7-8-3, 5-4-2 HEA) –
Providence is winless in its last five after taking a pair of
losses at Minnesota State, punctuated by Saturday’s 4-0
shutout.

Merrimack (7-8-4, 5-4-1 HEA) –
Saturday’s win over Vermont was the first in 25 days for
Merrimack, though that stretch only includes three games. Still,
the Warriors started their second half on the right foot (thanks in
large part to a 23-save effort from Sam Marotta),
and starts a push of 18 straight league games to end the year.

Vermont (6-9-4, 3-6-4 HEA) – The
Catamounts have won three of their last five, but Saturday’s
loss to Merrimack makes them winless in their last three against
Hockey East opponents.

UMass (7-9-2, 4-6-1 HEA) – The Minutemen
were the only idle team in Hockey East last weekend, and
Friday’s game against Providence is their first in 10 days.
It’s also their first league game since Dec. 1.

Northeastern (6-10-1, 3-8-1 HEA) – As
good as Northeastern looked in a win over Harvard two weeks ago,
Saturday’s loss to a sub-.500 Bentley squad (albeit one with
the nation’s leading scorer in Brett
Gensler) has the Huskies looking awfully vulnerable with a
race for the final playoff spot brewing.